


Dromaeosauridae

by cuddlesome



Series: Roarsome Rex AU [3]
Category: The LEGO Movie (2014), The LEGO Movie 2: The Second Part (2019)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Crushes, Drabble Sequence, F/M, Monsters, Muscles, Non-Linear Narrative, Self-Esteem Issues, Suggestive Themes, we stan one (1) emotionally conflicted dinosaur man
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-21
Updated: 2019-08-26
Packaged: 2020-09-19 05:15:28
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 1,160
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20325691
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cuddlesome/pseuds/cuddlesome
Summary: That feel when you're a monstrous shadow of your former self and you still love your special best friend very, very much.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Metamorphosis](https://archiveofourown.org/works/20276209) by [MalisonQuill](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MalisonQuill/pseuds/MalisonQuill). 

> MalisonQuill's idea demanded it. I really loved Metamorphosis and had to pay some tribute to part-raptor Rex.

Rex anticipates a handful of reactions from Lucy upon seeing his new form.

Being impressed is the most idealistic one. Focusing in on the muscles that it had been his intent to build up and touching his bare, scaly arm and saying something really un-Lucy-like like, “Oooo.” Or maybe, “Ahhh.”

Being frightened is probably the most realistic. Emmet had started to scream when he saw his tail and it rose in pitch and volume when Rex removed his helmet. Lucy won’t scream like that, no way. She has subtler cues, going pale and eyebrows upturning. He’ll be able to smell the fear.

Maybe she’ll be interested or grossed out or some other third thing. He keeps trying to guess as he stays buried under the bricks as Emmet and Lucy have their happy little reunion above.

When he finally rises from the bricks like a creature from the ocean, he looms over the two of them. Emmet doesn’t even notice, too absorbed in his special best friend, but Lucy’s eyes widen.

She shoves Emmet behind her to protect him and gets into a battle-ready pose. Rex snorts. He should’ve guessed that she’d do something like that. It’s cute that she thinks that martial arts will have any sort of effectiveness against him.

“’Sup?” Rex asks with a grin.

Lucy pushes some of her hair out of her face. “Emmet, who—what—is this guy?”

What indeed.

Emmet lets out a nervous laugh. “Well—”

“I’m Rex Dangervest, lady. What, never seen a half-man half-dinosaur before?” He puffs out his broad chest with pride, vest straining around his muscular bulk. “That’s right, you haven’t, ’cause I’m the only one.”

For now, anyway. He eyes Emmet. If all goes according to plan, he’ll be in the genetic alteration machine just after 5:15, right in time for dinner afterward. Then he’ll be one of two half-man half-monsters in the galaxy and little Emmet will finally toughen up.

He always thinks about his transformation like it’s fifty-fifty, but he isn’t exactly sure what the percentage of his DNA has been altered to be raptorized. Maybe he’ll keep changing until there’s nothing human in him left. That might be a blessing in disguise. He’s tired of how his heart makes him feel, looking down at her.

Lucy gazes back at him searchingly and for a moment he wonders if she somehow recognizes him despite everything. What he wouldn’t give to hug her, bury his face in her shoulder, and smell the familiar, nostalgic scent of her hoodie with his heightened senses. He tries to quash the thought as soon as it comes to him, clawed hands clenching into fists that prick at his palms, but it doesn’t let up. The internal reminder that he could crush both of these losers with one blow just makes him nauseous.

His reptilian green eyes are locked with her powder blue ones, still so clear and bright despite the heckishness of Apocalypseburg.

“Hey guys, I don’t wanna interrupt your intense broody staring contest,” Emmet pipes up, “but we’re about to go into a fiery volcano thing.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm being kind of sporadic with the timeline of these because I just wanted to write little cutesy stuff with raptor!Rex so to clarify this takes place post-canon because [insert contrivance so Rex lives past the end here].

When she knows who he is, no, who he used to be, Lucy reacts a little differently.

After all is said and done, Rex lives (hides) in the Rexcelsior. He’s been invited to come out and be with his raptors, but he knows he wouldn’t be able to handle the glittery, sappy atmosphere of Syspocalypstar. Emmet visits him all the time, oblivious to Rex’s rebuffs.

He’s unprepared for when Lucy comes.

He hears a rapping on the cargo hold door when he’s mid-workout. Dumbbells and barbells had long since stopped being a challenge for his mutated body to handle, so he’d taken to power lifting with the Rex-wing fighters. It’s the only thing that poses even a bit of a challenge to his massive arms. He tosses the ship aside with a huff and stomps over to the door, slamming his hand into the button to open it with a little more force than necessary.

And there she is. Lucy. She’s standing with her weight tilted to one side, emphasizing the curves of her hips underneath her baggy hoodie. There are cups of boba tea in each of her hands. She’s wearing pink and blue eyeshadow to match her hair and the accents on her clothes. It’s cute. As soon as the thought crosses Rex’s mind he’s mortified. He needs her to leave. Now.

Lucy starts to smile. “Emmet—”

Rex roars in the hopes of scaring her off. He says it in raptor language but the meaning is clear—go away.

She looks thoroughly unimpressed, the only sign that he’d done anything at all her ruffled bangs and some specks of saliva on her face. He leans back and licks his lips, chastened.

“Ugh. I brought boba tea,” she says, holding out a cup as she rubs her face on her shoulder.

He looks from her to the tea and back. He should refuse. He should knock both drinks to the floor. He should—

He reaches out and winces a bit at the contrast in their hands as he accepts the tea. Her hands look so small. If he tried to hold one she probably wouldn’t like it. Even Emmet’s work-calloused, plump fingers had to be more appealing to hold than raptor claws, let alone the blueness. His self-loathing for the form he’d convinced himself was cool increases by the second.

“Thanks,” he says, gruff.

“Don’t mention it.”

He hopes maybe she’ll go away after that. No such luck. Lucy invites herself in, brushing by his muscular bulk in the narrow entrance. Rex shrinks back at the touch on his bare arm, then straightens back up with a huff and follows after her. He has to take little steps so as to not outpace her.

Chanting self-affirmations internally keep him from falling apart. He is Rex Dangervest, he is part velociraptor, all awesome, he… keeps looking at the way her ponytail is bobbing while she walks.

Rex forces his eyes to his boba tea. He doubts in his ability to suck at a straw with his changed mouth, so he takes the lid and straw off and pours the drink in. It’s extremely sugary, just the way he used to like it. Now he’s wondering what kind of a caloric dent it’s going to make in his workout.

The tapioca balls stick to his sharp teeth and he takes extra care to chew them. A more appropriate treat for a raptor-man would be a bloody steak. Still, he appreciates it. Knowing it’s from Lucy makes it all the more delicious.

His tail twitches once as she casually sprawls out on the couch he’d built by the skate park. Maybe he should’ve built it to be double decker so he could actually fit on it with her.

She pats her lap. “C’mon, tough guy.”

Rex’s slitty eyes go round and he rushes to obey.


End file.
